They Believed In Spirit-Filled Preaching.

“They Believed in Spirit-Filled Preaching”

Acts 2:14-41

In the last message from Acts we saw that the Apostles and first church believed in the Holy Spirit. They had waited for what the Father had promised, the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit. There was no way they could or we can do all that Jesus ever began to do and teach without the Holy Spirit.

As they were filled with the Holy Spirit they began to speak with other tongues {Acts 2:1-4}. Remember now, they were not speaking in an unknown tongue, they were speaking in their own language and the people groups gathered there that day, about 13 different groups, were hearing them praise God in their own tongue.

Many were amazed and perplexed and were asking what this must mean, while there were others that mocked and accused them of being drunk {Acts 2:12-13}. Whenever you seek to live out the Spirit-filled life there will be those who just do not understand and will mock and criticize you.

In vs. 14 Peter takes his stand with the other Apostles and begins to deliver the first sermon ever preached by the church. In vs. 15 He tells those listening that those praising God were not drunk. It was just the third hour of the day. You and I may not understand this but the Jews gathered would have, they knew that no one drank wine before 9:00am and even then it was almost always only with meals. He then began to explain with vs. 16 just what had taken place.

He begins to preach a Spirit-filled sermon that was filled with the power and presence of God. I think it’s interesting that not until Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit that he began to preach. No preacher, should ever seek to preach without having been filled with the Holy Spirit. I also think it’s interesting that He did not preach until the church had worshipped and praised God. Praise and worship prepares both the heart of the preacher and the heart of the listener for what God has to say.

From these Scriptures {vs.14-41} we can define what Spirit-filled preaching is.

1. Spirit-Filled Preaching is Biblical Preaching.

What I mean is that Spirit filled preaching is always centered on the Bible. When we read Acts 1 we see Peter quoting the Scriptures. He quoted the Old Testament, they didn’t have the New testament as we do today. He, and most likely the other Christians gathered together before Pentecost had read, studied, and knew the Scriptures. Now, being filled with the Holy Spirit He and they not only knew the Scriptures but could understand and interpret the Scriptures. I can imagine that Peter had spent hours reading, studying, meditating, and memorizing the Word. When he, with the other eleven stepped up to preach He and they were filled with the Spirit of God and the Word of God.

This is good place to say that the preacher is called of God to preach the word of God concerning the Son of God as he is filled with the Spirit of God. {2 Timothy 2:1-5 NASB}

1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Paul charges Timothy with preaching the word in season and out of season. As a pastor we are called to do so many things but our primary calling is to preach and teach the Word. We are to reprove and rebuke {correct} and to exhort {encourage} the body with great patience and instruction. This is precisely why God gave the church deacons. A deacons primary ministry {service} is to care for the physical and emotional needs of the body so the pastor can give his time to prayer and study of the Word and thereby be filled with the Spirit when he preaches or proclaims the Word. {Acts 6:1-7}.

Did you know that the 3 or 4 point sermon that we preachers and you listeners hear today is a new thing. During the days of Charles Spurgeon, over a hundred years ago, it wasn’t uncommon to preach a sermon that was four or more points and each point would be expounded throughly. The sermon part of the worship service might have lasted an hour or more.